Big Geese at the Local Pond...Should I Be Worried?

[bill II]

I've seen the funniest home video where the goose bites some poor dude on the butt and chases him all over the place.
These big geese look like they could do some major damage to a r/c model boat.

I'm wondering if the geese at my local pond are going to attack my model boat when I run it there?
Geez, I hope they don't bite me on the butt and chase me all over the place after they've trashed my boat! :eek:
I can hear my wife laughing now.

I started out this topic worried about my model boat getting destroyed by a goose...now I'm worried about my butt too...go figure!

So, have any of you had a run-in with a goose (or other animal) and your r/c model boat?

Should I be worried about the geese?

[thething84]

well if you bear in mind that geese can break ur arm with a flap of there wings. not to worry you though. they are very strong animals.

if they do start to chase you don't turn away from them. stand up to them and make ur self look bigger than them.

i would imagine they probably be scared of your models. but then you can never tell wot they are going to do

[bluesy]

We have to share our pond with Mallard ducks, Canada Geese and Seagulls. The geese seem to be the most timid.

Here's a pic of lil tug shooing a goose.

[Holycow]

Hi,
I'm an animal trapper and have plenty of experience dealing with various waterfowl. The geese might approach you if they accustomed to being fed by people, like most birds they are neophobic and will likely be skittish of your boat, especially if they've never seen something like it before. That's the basic info.
I doubt you'd see aggression from them unless you or your model tried to approach some babies- the mothers will usually come after anything they think is a threat to their little ones. However at this time of year there shouldn't be any mothers with babies in tow. Keep in mind this is general information, like people each animal is an individual and will act accordingly.
Another thing to keep in mind in the unlikely event of a "lakeside showdown" with one of these guys is they pay keen attention to your posture, if one approaches you and you seem to be scared of it, it will assume it is dominant over you and might give chase, if one approaches and you move towards it with an aggressive posture, it will (typically) assume you are a predator and keep away from you.
I've grabbed plenty of geese with no real problems- . Running from any of these birds if they approach is a sure fire way to end up with one honking and flapping at your heals- or in the case of swans: knocking you down and other general unpleasantness.
Just be like Tom Petty and "Don't Back Down" and I think you'll have no problems. Good Luck.

P.S. most migratory birds are heavily protected, and you can be sighted for "Harassment" if you get caught bothering them- so check local statues before chasing them off or doing anything like that.
--jeff

[Bobslr]

Hi
The lake in the park where I sail my sail boat has all kinds of ducks,geese,and a couple of swans and they just move off to the other end of the lake when I put my boat in the water.
The few times I've sailed my scale electrics there the same thing happens so I've never had a problem with them and I have'nt heard of anyone in my club having a problem.
That said I did read on a forum some where about a guy who had his Revell Corvette atacked by a goose and the boat came out second best.
Bob

[tim slocum]

Several times when running my Bismarck "something large" has bumped into my ship.Now my Bismarck is a little under 6ft. and weighs in around 40lbs,so its probably something fairly large??Turtle??Large mouth bass?Any guesses??About the geese,once when my daughter was about 6yrs old a goose clamped down on her leg.She screamed and I came running,yelling and the goose let go.It left a nice sized bruise.I have also had several labrador retrievers look very interested in my boats and one owner said"Boy,my dog would really love to get ahold of that"Three and half years work ruined by a dog?? Possible.And I thought I only had to worry about little kids!!! :)

[ropanach]

Bumps in the small lake/over sized pound, are common, it's the carp they weigh in at about 12lb they were planted to control the follage in the lake, so you can count on the boats takeing a hit from time to time. (I think it's the shiny brass prop)

[Ghost 2501]

My local pool, West port lake water park has 2 main lakes, a large one and the smaller one, which is reserved for sailing, I have had the opportunity to observe the geese and other water fowl that frequent the lake, attracted to it by members of the public feeding the birds.

on the whole the birds tend to ignore the boats, general rule is so sail clear of the birds, and try not to heard them. if you do have a conflict of paths, give way to the birds, and watch out for birds coming in to land, and avoid making startling moves if you can.

[Holycow]

Hi,
I agree with you about the fish "bumping" and the light reflection off a spinning brass prop. I've had bass snap at the little plastic water skiing guy I used to pull behind my old toy speed boat, but the real monsters excluding alligators (down here) are those triploid grass carp as was mentioned before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctenopharyngodon_idella They get VERY big. This says 4+ feet and 40+ LBS but I'd swear I've spotted larger. I frequently see these huge guys glide under my boats out in the lake right as I pass the dropoff, I always imagine them to be be an errant Typhoon class- never had any attack tho'. They only seem to care about eating the waterplants.
We need to start a "Scale Seamonsters " thread and post pics of all the "sightings."
--jeff

[Vernon Hunt]

Don't worry about the pooping geese, it's the alligators that can ruin the whole day. If I hadn't killed the gater in my pond it would have eaten my children. The gator now hangs on my wall. Just got lucky with my aim. Boats are far more likely to live a long life in my pond.

[Ghost 2501]

we may have big fish here in the UK, thiough thankfully we dont have gators!

[bill II]

Thanks for all the advice guys...great War Stories too...I enjoyed them.

Didn't like hearing about the goose destroying the corvette...hope it's not prophecy!

Guess I got it easy, cuz I'm only contending with water fowl and not Gators!!! :eek:

Hope you all had a merry Christmas!

[CFDBASHER]

I live in southern Gulf Coast Florida, and I do suffer occasional problems with our protected wildlife. Here, you have to know what inhabits the pond prior to sailing. Mother Gators are generally nasty during the hatching season, but they hardly sneak up underwater. Mostly its a slow "I'm only a friendly floating log" type swim over. After fifteen years of sailing here, I have never heard of a Gator actually sinking a model. I do have a 5 footer (a baby) in my pond that is in love with my Russian Patrol Boat (probably the engine vibration). But when I see it comming, I sail back (or accidentally toss a rock in its direction. opps!).

Canada Geese are pretty tame. Only problem is that they leave doggie sized doo-doo on shoreline. They could care less about your boat model. Just don't plant yourself in there "space", as they will chase you down and chomp on your rump.

I've seen some fish collisions, but mostly just an inquisitive bump.

Ducks are EVIL. Like they are the Spawn of the Devil (well, Pat Robertson says so). I have no idea why, but they will paddle across a pond, in a gang, then do their "wing-flapping about to fly" routine on deck details. And I've seen boats damaged, and a couple of small boats sunk. We should eradicate the species for the good of Humanity.

Now if those clummsy titanically overweight wifes who just have to come along, and bring the unruly offspring who just have to touch and knock over everything, wouldn't bump into your model with their huge posterior while on its stand on shore waiting for your turn to sail, life would truly be grand.

[spiffy_spaceguy]

Just worry about the landmines they leave on the shoreline. They'll give your model space. At least I think they will; I've never had any problems.

[kap64]

I have to worry more about gators than geese out my way...